Week of Money: Where I quit my job

DAY ONE

??:?? — I wake up earlier than Little Bun. I can’t go back to sleep and yet I am tired.

7:02 a.m. — Little Bun squeals about half an hour later. I get up. WHAT? It is 7 already!?

7:13 a.m. — I log in and start working. Everyone is confusing everyone else, and we are all very very tired, so things are frustrating.

7:50 a.m. — I make a cup of tea, and Little Bun hassles me to play with him but I can’t — I have to actually work today!!

11:33 a.m. — I get dressed and you can go to this page to see what I wear on Instagram and all my outfits– you don’t need an account to just browse my page..! Although I’d love it if you DID sign up and then follow me 😉

12:08 p.m. — I head out to return that oversized sweater at Anthro. -$55.79

12:28 p.m. — I try out a white hot chocolate flavoured with juniper. I think I need it HALF juniper because I don’t taste anything… I ask for more juniper. I  sort of love the taste of this tree. $5.35

12:33 p.m. — I recharge my Starbucks card to get free parking (you need to spend a certain amount and recharging my card is the easiest way). $25

12:45 p.m. — I get home, and log back on to work.

4:21 p.m. — I log off. No word on anything. I think everyone is freaking the EFF out. Or are exhausted and don’t care any more.

4:47 p.m. — My partner starts on the festivities. He makes his organic lemonade for us that is all fizzy (I love it), I give him a bottle of wine, and Little Bun is excited about all the food coming. He (surprisingly) is VERY quiet and able to sit in his chair waiting pretty patiently for a 4-year old for a good hour or so… this is incredible.

5:11 p.m. — I feel a bit sick / dizzy / tired, so I go and lie down, and close my eyes to rest.

5:20 p.m. — That didn’t last long. Little Bun fell and smashed his face on the floor running around, and runs sobbing into the room screaming, bleeding slightly from his lip on the inside. No broken teeth. We’re fine. I cuddle him and soothe him.

6:25 p.m. — We start eating while watching and celebrating with the fireworks around the world.

7:47 p.m. — I leave the dishes for tomorrow. We used ALL the cutlery and ALL the plates, and I am too tired for this. And sleep-deprived.

8:49 p.m. — My partner is following the whole gilet jaunes and Macron drama happening, so all I hear is French all day long, talking about the same thing over and over again.

Returned: $55.79

Spent: $35.35

DAY TWO

??:?? — I wake up feeling very tired. I needed another hour. I feel constantly sleep deprived because Little Bun still needs to nap, and I still need to sleep a good 9-10 hours straight with deep, strong, REM which I DO NOT GET … I doubt I will ever get this sleep until he turns into a teen.

7:00 a.m. — Cannot believe it’s 7. Feels SO much earlier.

7:22 a.m. — I make tea, and start on the huge pile of dishes. I am currently obsessed with the show – Get a Room with Carson and Thom — they are fun and fantastic interior designers. I love almost every design they did, and am getting a lot of home decor eye candy… I mean, look at what a great job they did with this Bakery on Bergen. I WANT TO VISIT THIS WHEN I GO BACK TO NYC!

8:08 a.m. — Little Bun gets more coding apps. $24.99

9:10 a.m. — I log in to work but everyone is off, and I am reading hollow emails about how great this project was and what a success it was. WHATEVER.

11:30 a.m. — Lunch! We eat potatoes and fish, and Little Bun gobbles it up with bread. Like the French, he cannot eat anything without bread on the side.

11:42 a.m. — I start on the dishes and all the pots, and two loads of laundry.

12:50 p.m. — Little Bun goes down for a nap and complains until I build him a sleeping nest with pillows as ‘babies’. He tells me they’re friends and is very excited.

2:05 p.m. — He wakes up from his nap, and runs into my arms, his hair all mussed from slightly sweating while he napped, with this sweet smell of ‘after-nap’ bliss on him. We hug and hug and hug on the floor.

2:47 p.m. — He gets his milk, and I feel a little overwhelmed with everything at the start of a new year. Taxes for personal and business hit at the same time for me so I feel anxious, I have to do some administrative tasks, I feel like my finances are not completely buttoned down and worked out… lots to do.

3:11 p.m. — I show Little Bun how to play with his new coding apps and help give him the logic and rationality.

4:25 p.m. — We have a light dinner of salad and I am SO FULL after that. This is odd, I never get full after a salad but I do this time.

6:55 p.m. — Little Bun gets a little rice pudding treat (only him), and then after he eats it, he looks at me all confused and says: Mommy! Go and eat YOUR rice pudding! … It is there!! .. And he points to the shelf but it is a similar looking bowl holding garlic, so I show him. What a sweet little child.

7:34 p.m. — We read books. Books books books.. one after another, and the light is so dim in the bedroom, plus I am tired, so my eyes are straining to see the words and giving me a massive migraine.

8:22 p.m. — Bedtime. Stinky Koala Baby makes its appearance again and I pretend to keel over from the smell of Little Bun’s teeth so he’ll go to brush them and floss them with his father.

Spent: $24.99

DAY THREE

7:03 a.m. — I have zero energy to get dressed and go to work today. My brain, my eyes.. everything hurts. I decide to stay at home.

7:14 a.m. — I log in and start working. People start pestering me about the next projects coming up, and I am not even DONE THIS ONE. OMFG.

8:08 a.m. — I take a small break, have a croissant, and some tea.

11:08 a.m. — Lunch time. Little Bun eats early because he’s a food monster. I contemplate going out and decide to stay in and continue reading: Women from the ankle down (if you are a style/fashion/shoe/history buff, this is a great book)

12:43 p.m. — Little Bun goes down for his nap.

1:07 p.m. — #%#@ This job is 90% babysitting, I swear to …. If a Director needs a sign off from someone, why the #%@& are you asking me? ASK THEM TO SIGN OFF. I am not your goddamn secretary — do it yourself. Email them. Leave me alone, I have things to get done.

4:15 p.m. — I log off. Feeling drained.

5:07 p.m. — We have a light dinner of salad… my stomach can’t take anything else anyway.

6:35 p.m. — My partner bakes biscuits, he is trying croissants and they didn’t turn out, so he made biscuits.

8:20 p.m. — Time for bed. We are starting earlier because I need more sleep and we are letting bedtime slide too late.

Spent: $0

DAY FOUR

7:09 a.m. — I log in and start working.

7:36 a.m. — More emails, things at being lost.. people are all very stressed right now.

10:22 a.m. — I get a call from another manager. They want me to train this (reluctant and slightly incompetent) person for my job to replace me so they don’t have to pay for me any more (yes they said this to my face), and after that call, I’m fuming. We have already been through this. I do not want to do it, and I do not have time to do that AND to the job you expect me to deliver in the time given.

10:34 a.m. — I email my contact and submit my resignation. I’m out. 30 days notice. I can’t take it any more.

10:59 a.m. — My contact emails me and in a panic, wants to know why. I tell him why, and he takes it to the client. I say: “And by the way. I want more money.”

11:17 a.m. —  I eat lunch. My partner made mashed potatoes with raw garlic, with fish. I eat it, and right afterwards, I’m doubled over in what feels like cramps. Raw garlic hits me HARD.. my stomach is in pain.

12:03 p.m. — I head out to run a few errands. I decide to return those Cartonnier pants because even though they are great, I have to do a lot of work on them — hem them up, make a new belt out of the cuffs… it’s more work than it is worth for a pair of $60 pants. For $20, why not? I decide to wait for a deeper sale if there is one. Plus, these are trendy wide-legged pants…. not classics – $66.79

12:03 p.m. — I grab a juniper drink. A steamer with juniper flavour. $3.74

12:44 p.m. — Home, and logged in, working again.

12:50 p.m. — I do my budget roundup and am sad-faced. I was just shy of my goal last month of $800,000 net worth but with the stock market (who could have predicted this at this time), I am off by a good amount. Oh well. You can only prepare for what you can prepare for! These are just arbitrary money goals anyway.

2:36 p.m. — How did this sink become full AGAIN? OMG. I feel like I am doing dishes every 4 hours.

4:40 p.m. — I do a laundry load .. this is another one that keeps piling up.

5:13 p.m. — I am eying this ring on Banana Republic – the elephant signet ring. SO. CUTE. And the matching necklace, because I love elephants.

6:37 p.m. — No dinner, my stomach is queasy from that raw garlic still.

8:12 p.m. — Bedtime

Spent: $3.74

Returned: $66.79

DAY FIVE

??:?? — Ugh. Have to go to work today. This feels early. Little Bun’s foot is wedged up around my neck because when he sleeps, he likes having a Mommy Connection .. you know, where he touches some part of me while he sleeps, either his head nestled into my body nook, or his foot touching me, or his arms wrapped around my arm while he sleeps.

5:31 a.m. — Early. I knew it. After giving notice yesterday, they told me they sent an email to the head manager to tell him I wasn’t coming back for two main reasons: Statement of work and Money. We will see what he says. In the meantime I have been emailing contacts for another contract. Maybe it is time I leave to give everyone space. Who knows if they are mad or angry, but frankly, you can’t have it your way all the time and expect people to never say “No” to tasks and challenge you. I’m not a slave.

6:15 a.m. — I start getting ready for work after some tea. At least my outfit is cute.

11:58 a.m. — Lunch break.

12:56 p.m. — Back to work. I turned off my brain, but I am very tired right now.

5:05 p.m. — I head home. Exhausted.

8:35 p.m. — I pass the night, tired. Just trying to log in, do things, organize, clean up a bit, read, de-stress… play with Little Bun.

Spent: $0

DAY SIX

??:?? — I wake up tired. This project is starting to really drain me, and it is affecting my sleep as well. I am thinking about it, I am worrying about what is to come, I can’t even sleep peacefully unless I am drugged (usually I take cold pills when I am sick and this happens)

6:45 a.m. — I get up, log in and start working. Instantly, 6 issues all emergency high alerts start up for my morning and I am stressed. I am on a call, while working, while my other phone starts ringing. This is seriously insane.

11:05 a.m. — I manage to put out one fire (thankfully it was easy to do), and then I take a break for a lunch. My partner is out for the morning running errands, we found a leak in the laundry room and hope the pipe is under warranty because we need a welder and a plumber to come in and fix it.

1:12 p.m. — I head out to return things at Zara, that is done, and the girl eyes me with a look.. I am not sure if it is distaste or if it is just to see what I am wearing. Either way, I ignore her, and she takes FOREVER to hang up my items and to return each of them. A good 15 minutes. She doesn’t want to be at work, so she is dragging each transaction out, hoping someone else will come by to take over for her. – $112.78

1:30 a.m. — I want to get a hot Starbucks drink or a tart but I resist because (A) it is unnecessary calories and (B) I am trying to exercise some frugality here.

2:15 p.m. — I head home instead, and Little Bun is still sleeping from his nap.

2:45 a.m. — I log in and start working ASAP. Lots to finish. I hear him wake up and squeal sweetly: PAAA PAAAA??? He doesn’t know I am home, he knows his father is, so he calls for the adult he knows is there.

6:00 p.m. — Time to log off. I log off and do dishes.

7:59 p.m. — Time for bed…

Returned: $112.78

Spent: $0

DAY SEVEN

??:?? — Woke up at midnight because my phone is beeping with some stupid alarm every night at midnight. I vow to shut the phone off nightly to stop this nonsense. I’ve already disabled all the notifications but it still keeps happening on and off.

??:?? — I can’t get back to sleep. I start thinking about work, stressing about it, and I keep trying to zen and block it out but it won’t go away. I quit and I’m still angry.

??:?? — I finally fall back into a dreamless sleep and wake up tired with Little Bun crawling on top of me, giving me a massive snuggly hug and a kiss and saying: Mommy please get up!

??:?? — I grab his milk then try to conk back to sleep.. no dice.

5:56 a.m. — I get up, make tea and then try to disable everything possible on this phone. WHY IS THE ALARM GOING OFF AT MIDNIGHT!?!? F$&@!

7:12 a.m. — My partner starts cooking and I repair a tag and button, then upcycle a necklace and make another on a whim… I’m out of beads. Either I rip apart existing, boring necklaces or I get more beads. It will likely be the former.

7:20 a.m. — I buy all the latest digital versions of Usagi Yojimbo, a manga I got hooked onto as a kid and is up to Volume 32. $69

7:45 a.m. — I’m able to read them on the Kindle Cloud and they are incredibly crisp. This is a great manga to introduce children to as they get older and into comics because it introduces a lot of good concepts about manners, honour, integrity, loyalty, kindness and abstract concepts about death, family, and so on. Very impressionable stuff for young minds.

8:14 a.m. — I hang out with Little Bun building towers and knocking them down, while listening to Emma Hill go through her designer bag collection. I hear the pros, cons.. it is interesting to me now and I like hearing loves and regrets. Seems pricey to keep upgrading to a new designer bag once it becomes too saturated with the masses and no longer cool to carry.

7:45 a.m. — She intrigues me about the Loewe Puzzle Bag. Seems right up my alley for practicality and ease of use… then I google the price and almost cry. $3500!?!? Hmm.

11:53 a.m. — We have a nice salad lunch with eggs — I love simple fare, and then I go and lie down for some light REM sleep, which I manage to get for an hour here and there as Little Bun refuses to nap and insists he is UN-NAPPY and UN-SLEEPY. All day, everyday and all night.

1:05 p.m. — He finally goes down with a grumble at around one, and I get up after he is conked out. I don’t want to oversleep and end up having a sleep headache. I just needed a little light rest..

1:22 p.m. — I log in and start on my next net worth post .. I did one on the average net worths of Canadians by age, province and major city but now I’m breaking it out by the percentage of their net worth in their homes as well, by age, province and city…

1:42 p.m. — Little Bun wakes up, then eyes me, and whines, and goes back down to sleep again. Good. I tuck him back in. He IS tired but won’t admit it.

2:00 p.m. — He is up 15 minutes later and gets fresh cold milk.

2:22 p.m. — I then start on the dishes while watching Top Chef. I’m hooked. I love Last Chance Kitchen too, and that cliffhanger about who makes it back into the competition!!?!? ARGHH I can’t wait until next week!

3:15 p.m. — I log in, schedule bill payments, and then clean up a little.

3:46 p.m. — I make some comforting vegan noodles which I love and eat at least three times a week. I crave it.

5:12 p.m. — My partner comes home and we have a huge buttery pastry filled with almonds (une galette) which I don’t really love because I like fluffy cakes like Japanese cheesecake .. I’m not into thick, heavy pastries.. I eat mine and feel queasy. I drink a glass of lemongrass tea to settle my stomach. This is too heavy.

6:37 p.m. — Little Bun jumps around in the bed alone and begs me to play with him all night. I do, but then get bored (who wouldn’t..) and I’m trying to really enjoy him and love him in the moment but my brain is tired, I’m stressed… I get bored easily as well. Kids are not exactly stimulating.

6:45 p.m. — My partner cleans the oven and the kitchen, and all the grates. He is very good at spring cleaning .. he also dusts the entire house. I clean but I don’t do the heavy cleaning in the house — fridge, oven, etc — he handles all that too. I’m pretty lucky..

7:08 p.m. — I tell him he has to contact the schools this year to register Little Bun, and he makes a note to do it. I could do it but my French is not as strong and I don’t want to make a mistake especially for Little Bun’s schooling.

8:22 p.m. —  Bedtime. He fights me on it, and I have to Koala Baby him to get him to brush his teeth and then read a few books with him while snuggling, and he goes to sleep.

Spent: $69

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Want more? Read all of my previous Week of Money Diaries.